Jump to content

Vajra Chandrasekera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vajra Chandrasekera
Chandrasekera, 2023
Chandrasekera, 2023
Born (1979-08-17) August 17, 1979 (age 46)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
Genrefantasy, science fiction, novel, short story, poetry
Notable awardsNebula Award for Best Novel (2023)
Locus Award for Best First Novel (2024)
Ursula K. Le Guin Prize (2025)
Website
vajra.me

Vajra Chandrasekera is a Sri Lankan author known for his fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories. His debut novel, The Saint of Bright Doors, won the 2023 Nebula Award for Best Novel[1] and the 2024 Locus Award for Best First Novel.[2]

Life

[edit]

Chandrasekera was born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka. His father was a writer and civil servant.[3] Chandrasekera's first job at the age of eighteen was "writing fake product reviews of computer hardware." He later became a non-fiction editor in Sri Lanka.[3]

Career

[edit]

In 2012, he published the poem "Jörmungandr" in Ideomancer. He followed this with the 2013 short stories "Pockets Full of Stones" in Clarkesworld Magazine and "The Jackal's Wedding" for Apex Magazine.[4][5][6] His short story "The Translator, at Low Tide" was a finalist for the 2021 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.[7]

In 2023, Chandrasekera published his first novel, The Saint of Bright Doors.[8] Amal El-Mohtar, in a review for The New York Times, described the novel as the best book of the year.[9] Jake Casella Brookins, for Locus, described the book as "truly superb" with rich cityscape details and deep investigations of the writing of history and the desire for revolution.[10] Both reviewers noted the novel's stretching of the fantasy genre.[9][10] Publishers Weekly described the book as "lyrical but sluggish."[11]

In 2024, Chandrasekera published the novel Rakesfall.[8] It focuses on the reincarnations of Annelid and Leveret through a set of tales in a mixture of perspectives, genres, and plotlines. The book begins with the friends' youth during the fallout of the Sri Lankan civil war.[12] Madeline Schultz, for the Chicago Review of Books, praised the book's unique exploration of colonialism and imperialism, but critiqued the descriptions and disorientation between episodes.[13] New York Times and Publishers Weekly reviews noted the book's challenge and payoff, with Publishers Weekly praising the book's lyricism.[8][12] Ian Mond, for Locus, said the book's many sections could leave a reader "bewildered," but the ideas and exploration of Sri Lankan colonial history compelled readers forward.[14] Helena Ramsaroop, for Strange Horizons, wrote that Rakesfall compellingly shows grief and hope in the pursuit of liberation.[15]

Chandrasekera has placed himself in the New Wave, New Weird, and slipstream literary movements, as well as the blended-genre term science fantasy.[5][16] He is the author of more than 50 short stories, as well as numerous essays and reviews.[3][17]

He was one of the 2025-2026 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, where he spent time working on his third novel.[18]

Awards

[edit]

Chandrasekera's first novel, The Saint of Bright Doors, won the 2023 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2024 Locus Award for Best First Novel, the 2024 Crawford Award, and the 2024 Ignyte Award for Outstanding Adult Novel.[1][2][19][20][21] The book was a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel and shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize.[22][23] It was listed as a New York Times Notable Book, Editors’ Pick, and Best Fantasy of 2023.[24][25]

Chandrasekera was an editor for the speculative fiction magazine Strange Horizons during the six consecutive years that it was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.[3]

His second novel, Rakesfall, won the 2024 Otherwise Award and the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize.[26][27] The book was nominated for the 2024 Nebula Award for Best Novel and 2025 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[28][29][30] It was a New York Times Notable Book of 2024.[31]

Bibliography

[edit]

Novels

[edit]
  • The Saint of Bright Doors. Tor Books. 2023. ISBN 9781250847386.
  • Rakesfall. Tor Books/Tordotcom. 2024. ISBN 9781250847683.

Short fiction

[edit]

Anthology appearances

[edit]

Anthology (as editor)

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "2023 Nebula Awards Winners". locusmag.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  2. ^ a b "2024 Locus Awards Winners". locusmag.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Chandrasekera, Vajra (June 2023). "Decades of Aspiration: A Conversation with Vajra Chandrasekera". Clarkesworld Magazine (Interview). No. 201. Interviewed by Arley Sorg.
  4. ^ a b "Pockets Full of Stones". Clarkesworld Magazine. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  5. ^ a b Myman, Francesca (2024-12-09). "Vajra Chandrasekera: The Mythic and the Modern". Locus Online. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  6. ^ a b "The Jackal's Wedding". Apex Book Company. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  7. ^ "2021 Sturgeon Award Finalists". Locus Magazine. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  8. ^ a b c El-Mohtar, Amal (2024-08-21). "New Speculative Fiction About the Villainous Power of Universities". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  9. ^ a b El-Mohtar, Amal (2023-12-01). "What's Behind That Door?". New York Times. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  10. ^ a b Casella Brookins, Jake (2023-10-11). "Jake Casella Brookins Reviews The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera". Locus Online. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  11. ^ "The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  12. ^ a b "Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  13. ^ Schultz, Madeline (2024-07-01). "Whirlwind Exploration in 'Rakesfall'". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  14. ^ Mond, Ian (2024-07-10). "Ian Mond Reviews Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera". Locus Online. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  15. ^ Ramsaroop, Helena (2025-02-17). "Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera". Strange Horizons. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  16. ^ Grifka Wander, Misha (19 June 2024). "At the Periphery of the Grand Narrative: Vajra Chandrasekera on Rakesfall". Ancillary Review of Books. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Vajra Chandrasekera in Archives". Strange Horizons. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  18. ^ "Meet the 2025–2026 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers". New York Public Library. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  19. ^ "Chandrasekera Wins Crawford". Locus. March 4, 2024.
  20. ^ "Vajra Chandrasekera". Nebula Awards. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  21. ^ "2024 Ignyte Award Winners". Locus. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  22. ^ "2024 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Award. 2024-02-04. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  23. ^ "The 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize in Fiction". ursulakleguin.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  24. ^ "The Saint of Bright Doors". Tor Publishing Group. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  25. ^ "100 Notable books of 2023". New York Times.
  26. ^ Hartman, Jed (2025-05-06). "Announcing the 2024 Otherwise Award winners!". Otherwise Award. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  27. ^ "2025 Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction". ursulakleguin.com. Retrieved May 11, 2026
  28. ^ "2024 Nebula Awards Winners". locusmag.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  29. ^ "Rakesfall". Nebula Awards. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  30. ^ "2025 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. 2025-06-21. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
  31. ^ "100 Notable books of 2024". New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  32. ^ "Sweet Marrow". Strange Horizons. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  33. ^ "Apologia". future-sf.com. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  34. ^ "The Translator, at Low Tide". Clarkesworld Magazine. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  35. ^ "Peristalsis by Vajra Chandrasekera". psychopomp.com. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  36. ^ "Theses on the Scientific Management of Goetic Labour". Uncanny Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  37. ^ "The Mercer Seat". future-sf.com. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vajra_Chandrasekera&oldid=1357155173"